Office Needs--Basic Tools

It is important to have a space where you can conduct your business in your home. You may not have a room that can become your office, but you probably have a space--a counter, shelf, or small desk area--that could serve that need.

Create a space for yourself.

Here's a list of tools that you will need to make your business a success:

• Telephone.
  • First and foremost, you should have a telephone with a business phone number, separate from your personal home number. It is important, especially when working out of your home, that you know which incoming calls are business calls. Most states require a business listing, rather than just another personal line installed in your home. Check your local phone directory service for guidelines. You will also need an answering machine or voice mail system with a professional business greeting, available through your local phone service.
• Cellular phone.
  • To maximize your success, you must be reachable at all times. The best-case scenario would be to have a business line at home, as well as a cell phone. When you are at home, use the business line. When you are away from home, forward all of your calls to your cell phone, so you don't miss any of them. Nothing says "I don't care about you" to your customers like not being able to get through to you, or not having phone calls returned. Cell phones are so common today that, if you shop around, you can get very low prices and incentives. Make sure that you know the limitations of your phone service, so you don't get a surprise when you get your first bill.
• Fax machine.
  • This will also be crucial to your success. You will be contacting people in many different ways--by telephone, by letter, and in person; however, there is always a need for follow-up after the meeting or telephone call, and a fax machine is a good way to follow up. You can also fax bids to prospective clients, and update your current customers with new information or special offers. Technology is expanding so rapidly that, if you shop around, you can get a decent fax machine for less than two hundred dollars. Remember you must be able to receive faxes as well as send them, so merely relying on an online fax machine, internally created on your computer, will not be sufficient. Although it is possible to use a flat bed scanner if you must use the online fax system in your computer.
• Bookkeeping system.
  • You will need a way to keep track of your accounts. No matter what system you use, from a paper log in a filing cabinet to a computerized database program, it should be organized and complete. You will need to keep files on each account, as well as a contact log and Rolodex or business card file. To help you manage your business more efficiently today, we suggest that you purchase the software package called QuickBooks. The best small business accounting and payables program, QuickBooks helps you start your accounting correctly from day one. It also grows as your business grows. Do all your bookkeeping, cut checks, print out purchase orders, and do your taxes with QuickBooks, which is America's #1 best-selling accounting software. Recommended by accountants, QuickBooks is the fastest, easiest way to manage your business. Look up QuickBooks on the World Wide Web, at www.quicken.com/quickbooks, or call their toll-free number 1-888-222-7276.
    
• Phone directory.
  • You will need a good directory when you start. Your local Yellow Pages can be a wonderful way to start calling businesses and introducing your services. Most phone directory companies give out their books for free.
    
• Business hours.
  • The great thing about a Home based business is that you can work at home and set your own hours. To maximize your potential for sales, however, it's a good idea to work when most other businesses are open. Typical business hours (9am-5pm) are when you will be able to catch most people at the office, which means you will make more sales during that time.
• Other considerations.
  • There are other things you may wish to acquire to help you run your business more smoothly. For example, you may wish to set up a merchant account, so that you can take credit card payments from your customers. Contact any local bank to find out more about this item. Obtain anything that will help you work more professionally, or enable your customers to buy from you as easily as possible.
• Commercial liability insurance
  • The legal climate to which any business person is exposed today is extremely complex. It may even prove fatal financially to those businesses that operate without the proper commercial general liability insurance. To reduce this problem for your business, we suggest that you purchase commercial liability insurance coverage. This type of policy will protect you if you are sued because of something that occurred during the conduct of your business. The coverage includes defense costs that result from the lawsuit, even if the allegations in the suit are "groundless, false or fraudulent." The suits must generally allege that you caused "bodily injury" (injury to someone's person) or "property damage" (damage to their property) for the policy to defend you or pay the loss.
    
    You may also want to include in your coverage additional factors, like Contractual Liability, Personal Injury, and Advertising Liability, which will cover you even if "bodily injury" or "property damage" doesn't occur.